Tracking Regulatory Modernization in the Trump Administration

Sam Batkins

With the signature of a landmarkexecutive order establishing a regulatory budget in the U.S., and the goal of $0 net regulatory costs for the remainder of the fiscal year, regulatory modernization is front-and-center in domestic policy. Congress has also pledged to significantly reform the administrative state and has already repealed several last-minute regulations from President Obama under the Congressional Review Act (CRA).

The chart below tracks the progress of regulatory modernization during the Trump Administration. Every CRA measure signed into law and all rulemakings that reduce paperwork hours or costs will be available below (and updated weekly). This reflects data from 2017 onward and all figures are from benefit-costs analyses provided by federal agencies, available at RegRodeo.com. To date, Congress and the administration have repealed regulations with an estimated $4.1 billion in total net present value costs and 44.7 million hours of paperwork. The paperwork figures are annual and the net present value figure represents the total cost during the life of the rule, according to the regulation’s regulatory impact analysis. Some rules estimate a rulemaking horizon over 30 years, but for others, only the initial first-year cost is provided. For rulemaking actions that only partially repeal past regulations, AAF uses the deregulatory rulemaking’s estimates (rather than the original regulation’s estimates). The annual cost savings from CRA resolutions is $1.1 billion. The potential annual cost savings for all rulemakings below equals $21.8 billion. Combined with further executive actions and formal delays, the amount of affected regulation could rise to $71.6 billion (net present value) and more than 64 million hours of paperwork.

In addition, this project will track executive actions seeking regulatory rescissions and formal delays from the administration’s regulatory moratorium. The tables below will provide an ongoing tally of the original cost and paperwork estimates for both categories.